


Sleepovers and slip ups

by ArielAquarial



Series: Family of Three [17]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Castiel is Claire Novak's Parent, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Kid Claire Novak, M/M, Sick Dean Winchester, Sleepovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-07-08 21:40:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19876501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArielAquarial/pseuds/ArielAquarial
Summary: It's finally Dean's turn to host a sleepover. The day starts out bad, and then steadily gets worse. Sick, annoyed, but still expected to keep an eye on two young children as they wreak havoc in his home, Dean settles in for a long night. Thankfully, Cas knows just what to do to make everything better.





	Sleepovers and slip ups

**Author's Note:**

> It's possible that my tagging is getting worse.

Dean was having a really shitty day.

On a scale of 1-10, 1 being staying at home in bed with Cas all day and 10 being having explosive diarrhea, he was sitting squarely at an 8.

The day started with a sore throat. Having a child who went to daycare made that a semi-normal occurrence, so that was nothing new, but they were never fun and always came at the worst possible times. Then, halfway through breakfast, Cas realized that his bike tire was flat so Dean was left to singlehandedly get Claire ready for daycare while Cas patched and pumped his tire. This, of course, made him late for work. Bobby gave him shit for it and although Dean knew the man was just fuckin’ with him, he still felt bad about it. Once he was finally in the swing of things at work, the hood of the Camry he was doing a tune-up on came unhooked and slammed down on his head. After he was done cursing and yelling, he took some painkillers but the headache wouldn’t go away.

After that, his cold seemed to get worse. He had always been prone to sinus infections, so it was no surprise when he started feeling the pressure building and his nose turning into a faucet. Because of his stuffy nose, he wasn’t able to taste his lunch of leftover pizza, but so far that had been the least of his worries so he pushed through the tasteless meat lovers pizza with no complaint. When he was only halfway done with his four slices, he had to drop everything and run into to shop when the sound of banging and yelling jarred him out of his thoughts. The screaming turned out to be from some idiot who pinched his finger between two metal sheets so bad that Dean had to drive him down to the clinic to see if he broke anything or needed stitches. After loading the poor idiot into Bobby’s truck, since there was no way he was going to let someone bleed all over baby’s leather seats, he had to wait while the guy got his finger checked out. Of course, there wasn’t much they could do for the guy, so an hour later they were heading back to the shop with the kid's finger wrapped in so much gauze it was 4 times its original size. Bobby sent the kid home with more than a few words.

That was all before 1 pm.

To top off his shit sandwich of a day, when Dean called Sammy from the clinic’s waiting room with the hope that he’d be able to cancel the sleepover he was supposed to host, the asshole laughed in his face.

“I’m sick, Sammy.” Dean tried to reason. The nasal quality of his voice was proof enough that he was telling the truth. “If Emma comes over, she’ll get sick, and then you’ll get sick, and then Jess’ll get sick…”

“Emma is in daycare so we already get sick once a month. Nice try, though.” Sam sighed into the phone. “We planned this weeks ago, Dean. Jess and I already made a hotel reservation for tonight. We have _plans_.”

Dean scrunched up his nose in disgust. “Ew.”

“Get over yourself.” He huffed. “I don’t care if you’re throwing up, you’re taking Emma.”

“Geeze, Sammy.” He scolded. “You‘d want me to take her even if I was puking up a storm?”

“Yes.” He replied, his tone of voice cutting of any further arguments from Dean. “I’m going to a hotel with Jess, tonight. I haven’t spent any alone time with her in weeks, Dean, and its probably going to be another month until mom will be able to take her overnight again.”

“Fine…” he grumbled. “But I better be getting a new niece or nephew out of this.”

Sam just sighed into the phone. “I’ll be dropping her off at 4.”

Dean hung up and groaned. No one could say he didn’t try. With a shake of his head, he started his car and headed to Claire’s daycare. His original plan was to drop by the grocery store so they could buy pizza toppings for the dough he made the night before, but his headache pounding at his skull and all he wanted to do was go home and rest. He was extremely glad he hadn’t mentioned the pizza plan to Claire. He didn’t want to have to deal with the tears and begging she would surely unleash on him. Besides, if he wasn’t feeling better by the time Sam dropped Emma off, he could just order pizza. It wouldn’t be the fun little day of making pizza and playing together, but it would have to do. She’d have Emma to distract her, anyway.

With those plans out the window, he parked at the CVS next to Claire’s daycare and grabbed some cold medicine. Once his purchase was in the car, he walked in and grabbed Claire. She shrieked once she saw him and did a running jump into his arms. He staggered under her 52-pound weight crashing into his stomach and grappled with her until she was safely secured in his arms. Once the kid was buckled into her car seat, he had to plug the cassette adapter into his phone and play the Disney playlist just so he could get a moment's respite.

The minute they were through the door, Claire shot off to her room so she could get it ready for Emma’s arrival. He had no doubt that ‘getting it ready’ didn’t mean cleaning it, but instead meant taking all of her favorite toys and piling them up in the middle of her bedroom. With his head feeling the way it did, Dean was finding it hard to care. Cas would be pissed to see the mess, and Claire would have to clean it up once Emma was gone (which she wouldn’t like at all), but at this point, he considered it Cas’s problem.

He plopped his ass on the couch, gave himself a dose of medicine, and drifted in and out of sleep for the next twenty minutes. He was startled out of his misery by the doorbell, signifying Sam’s arrival.

Standing up only made his head swim and vision tunnel, so he had to pause with his hand on the back of the couch for balance until he felt like he wouldn’t fall. Shit. He needed more water or something, maybe text Cas to get som Gatorade on his way home.

The minute Dean opened the door, Sam was talking. “Jess is in the car, so I have to hurry up. Heres her bag-” he shoved a Rainbow Jack backpack into Deans' arms. “It has everything she needs. I also threw a few Capri Suns in there for the both of them, and her favorite book. Call us if we forgot anything, but don’t expect us to answer right away. We’re going to be _very_ busy.” Before he knew it, the whirlwind of his brother was gone, Emma was running into the house, and the only sign Sam had even been there was the red of his taillights as he sped away.

A little slow on the uptake, Dean watched their car disappear around the corner in a daze. He closed the door, dabbed at his tender nose with a crumpled tissue, and headed to the kitchen. With a room temp water bottle in hand, he went back for the couch and drank half of it before making himself comfortable. It seemed like only moments later that he was startled into alertness by the happy shrieks of two little girls as they chased each other around the coffee table. Claire trailed behind, a manic smile on her face as she ran at Emma with a toy lion figuring. Emma, equally as excited, screamed at the top of her lungs and ran dangerously close to the corner of the glass coffee table.

He took that as his cue to get up and at least _try_ to keep them entertained. Despite the throbbing pain in his head, and despite the sinus pressure that was making his jaw and ears ache, he got to his feet and let the girls into the backyard so they could visit the chickens. He sent Claire into the coop and let Emma open the gate to the chicken run. The six of them ran out excitedly and went straight for Cas’s garden.

He sat down in their deck swing and supervised as the girls played on their swing set, occasionally running to the chickens to see if any of them were in the mood to chase them around. Unfortunately for them, the chickens seemed more concerned with picking worms out of the dirt. His eyes drifted shut and he slumped in the wooden bench swing. God, he was tired. Those poor girls were going to be so bored but he just didn’t have the energy to play with them. He just felt so _guilty_ that he couldn’t do more than watch them as they ran around _._

Between one blink and the next, the sun was noticeably lower in the sky and the girls weren’t anywhere to be seen. He jerked up and glanced around the backyard, ignoring the sharp pain behind his eyes at the sudden movement. With no girls in sight, his panic skyrocketed. He immediately stood, letting the blanket slip off of him and pool to the floor.

Wait…blanket? He would have remembered grabbing one on his way out, so there was no way the blanket had been there before he fell asleep. A quick glance at the bench revealed a pillow and confirmed his suspicion. Either the girls took pity on him and tucked him in for a nice nap (which was not likely), or Cas had come home while he was knocked out. Seeing that the chickens were safely back in the run, he sighed in relief. Cas was home. There was no way the girls would have been able to get all 6 chickens back into the run on their own.

Sheepishly, he trudged back into the house to find Cas cooking dinner and the girls happily situated in the living room watching tv and coloring in some of Claire's coloring books.

Cas looked up at him with a smile. “How are you feeling? Claire said you were sick.”

“It’s my damn head. I’m coming down with a cold and it’s hitting me hard.” He took Cas into his arms and held him close in a search for comfort. “I tried to get out of the sleepover, but Sam didn’t care that I was sick.”

“Poor thing. Your brother was being a meanie, wasn’t he?” Cas cooed into his ear, and Dean was feeling too crappy to care that Cas was mocking him. “Go rest in the room. I have things covered.”

“No.” he argued. “I can't leave you out here alone with them. I’m your backup. Your partner in crime.”

Cas scoffed. “I’ll be fine. It's more important to me that you get to bed. I’ll bring you dinner once it's ready.”

“What are we having?”

“Fish tacos.”

Gean groaned. “Did you make that chipotle sauce?”

Cas gestured to the small mixing bowl filled with the delicious sauce. “I don’t have a death wish.”

“You’re the best.”

Cas hummed to himself. “You must not be terribly sick if you’re this excited about dinner.”

“I’m sick, not dying.” He retorted.

Cas pointed the tongs towards the general direction of their bedroom. “Go and rest.”

Dean smiled and walked away. As soon as he rounded the corner into the hallway that led to the master bedroom, his smile dropped and he sighed. Despite his little show, he was getting worse. The migraine was very mild so far, but the sinus pressure and the constant dripping of nose was making for a really miserable experience. He couldn’t even blow his damn nose without his head feeling like it was going to explode. He was sure that once he put his head on his pillow, he’d be out like a light.

Sure enough, once he got comfortable, he was out. The only thing that woke him was the bedroom door creaking open. He glanced up blearily and reached over to turn on his bedside lamp. Cas stood in the doorway, tray of food in hand and a sympathetic smile on his face.

“Hey…” he croaked, pushing himself up into a seated position. “How long have I been out?”

“About an hour and a half. I waited to finish your portion so it wouldn’t be cold.”

Dean rubbed at his eyes and yawned. “Thanks, babe.”

He placed the tray next to Dean and stroked the mans face gently with his knuckle. “How are you feeling?”

“Better and worse.” He admitted. “Headache is better but my throat feels like I swallowed angry bees.”

Cas tsked. “Are you up for tacos? I have a can of chicken noodle soup in the cubbord if you’d prefer that.”

“I’m always up for tacos.” He smiled at the plate. Two corn tortillas topped with grilled fish, Cas’s amazing secret chipotle sauce, shredded cabbage, salsa, and a side of lime wedges. “You’re perfect. You know that?”

Cas blushed. “I try.”

He moaned at the first bite. “I love you. So much.”

Cas chuckled and stood. “I need to get back to the girls. It's bedtime.”

Dean frowned and put down his half-eaten taco. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help.”

“It's fine.” He smoothed down Deans bed head with a fond smile. “I just want you to feel better.”

“What did you guys do?”

“Colored, read a few books, let them help me clean the coop, and then after dinner, they watched a bit of tv.”

He resumed eating his tacos with speedy determination. “I’m definitely helping with bedtime.”

“You don’t have to. If your feeling ill I’d rather you rest.”

With the last bite gone, he threw his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. when he wasn’t struck with a bought of dizziness, he smiled. “I feel great. Let's go.”

“You sound horrible.” Cas corrected. “But I suppose there's no stopping you. At least blow your nose, first.”

He nodded and grabbed a tissue before blowing his nose as obnoxiously as he could. The decongestants seemed to be working, at least. “Definitely not taking no for an answer. I’ve abandoned you to the wolves, I gotta make it up to you somehow.”

“They’ve been lovely.” He defended. “Claire and Emma are best friends, you know.”

“Oh, I know.” He said, thinking back to all of the times Claire clatted the entire ride back from Sams house about Emma. Dean followed Cas into the front room, tray in hand. “Claire’s not being bossy, is she?”

“No. She’s being the perfect little host.”

Dean scoffed. “Sure she is.”

Cas just smiled and clapped his hands together, gaining the little girl's attention. “Its bedtime, ladies. Let's go to the bathroom and brush our teeth.”

Claire shot to her feet and began pulling Emma up. “Come on! I gots ta show you my toofbrush.”

“I got this.” Dean told Cas and followed the girls into the bathroom, he supervised as they brushed their teeth and hair, giving it one last detangle before bedtime. As soon as they were done, he let the girls take turns using the toilet and then ushered them into Claire’s bedroom. While they got their pajamas on, Dean adjusted the mesh bed rail to the middle and hoped it would be enough to keep both of them from falling out of the bed while they slept. He grabbed a few pillows off of the futon and tossed them on the floor next to the bed, just in case.

As soon as both of them were ready, Dean grabbed the book Sam had left and read it to them. Once he was done with that, he tucked the quilt over them and sang them their bedtime song. After giving them both at least three kisses each, they left the girls with a final warning to keep things down.

Cas and Dean decided to stay in the living room so that they would be able to keep an ear out for them. They had no doubt that the girls would be up for a while, talking and sneaking toys into the bed to play with, and both men would have to take turns going in and trying to get them to quiet down and at least attempt to sleep.

“I’ll say it again.” Dean began pausing the tv during a dull moment of House Hunters. “You’re amazing.”

Cas just rolled his eyes and continued stroking Deans hair from where his head rested on his lap. “They were great.”

“Still…” he placed his hand on Cas’s and guided it so it was cradling Deans cheek. “I was the one who fell asleep while I was supposed to be watching them.”

“And they were fine.” He reminded Dean. “They were both playing quietly in the backyard when I came home. Claire knows to wake you up if she needs anything, and I’m sure the chickens would have alerted you if anything happened. They’re louder than any guard dog I’ve met.”

“I still feel bad.” He admitted.

“Well, don’t.”

“Fine.” He grumbled, letting go of Cas’s hand so the man could resume his stroking. “It's just…I had all of these plans. We were going to make pizza, and I had this popsicle stick craft thing planned…and then I got sick.”

“It happens.” Was Cas’s serene reply. “I would have liked to see the popsicle craft, though. Perhaps we can save that for tomorrow. Emma isn’t getting picked up until 5 pm, after all.”

Dean nodded. “Hopefully I feel better in the morning. I’m not leaving you alone again.”

“Everything went well.” Cas reminded him, again. “We had fun, and the girls both ate their dinners. I call that a _big_ success.”

“Yeah, you took over like a champ.” He gestured to the front room, still a mess of games and coloring books. “I was gonna go crazy trying to take care of them feeling like I did.”

“Its just two little girls, Dean.” He teased. “If you think this is hard, try teaching college students.”

Dean smirked. “Well, if you’d let me come to one of your classes, I’d know.”

Cas prodded Deans’ chest and scowled at him. “You know why you’re not welcome in my classes.”

He batted away Cas’s finger and sat up, facing him on the couch so the man could get the full view of his adorable pout. “Come on, baby. I’ll be good.”

“Dean. You quite explicitly told me that you wanted to hide under my desk and blow me while I taught my students. That would not be considered good behavior.” He shook his head. “I don’t even teach at a Desk. I prefer the podium.”

Dean bit his lip. “Is it a podium I would fit under?”

Cas cocked an eyebrow. “This is exactly what I’m talking about.”

“Cas…” he groaned. “Why can’t we ever do the things I want? I swear, it will be great. I’ll wear a little skirt and pretend I’m trying to get a better grade.”

“You’re telling me you’ll wear a skirt to my class?” he asked.

Dean thought about the lecture hall Cas taught in. Those things could hold up to 100 people. “Ok, maybe I’m not _that_ much of an exhibitionist…”

“Then, there's the fact that you want to role play seducing me to get a better grade. That’s highly unethical and I would never allow that. You’d be kicked out of the school immediately.”

“But we _never_ do what I want.” He repeated. “And it wouldn’t be real…come on, babe.”

“The last time we did what you wanted I bruised my knee and you sprained your groin.”

Dean winced at the memory. They had been trying a new position, one that he had seen in that damn Karma Sutra that Gabe gave them when Dean accidentally tipped them both off of the bed. Cas had nailed his knee on the bed frame on the way down, and Dean’s foot slipped on an unfortunately placed sock, sending himself almost into a full split. “Forgot about that…”

“If you want sex, you’ll have to have it on a bed, not in a classroom. Any other places will have to wait until Sam can take Claire overnight.”

“But…” Dean trailed off, desperately wracking his brain for _something_. “What if I Come to your office? We’ll have some privacy there. I could be a student in need of some…extra credit.”

Cas arched an eyebrow. “Have you forgotten that I share office space with Balthasar? Not to mention, as I’ve already told you, that would be highly unethical.”

“But it’s a _fantasy_.” He stressed. “You’re being no fun.”

Cas didn’t reply.

“Shit.” He thought some more. “What if you cancel your class? The classroom will be empty and we can-”

“I am _not_ canceling my class just so I can fuck you in a skirt.”

Dean pursed his lips. “Geeze, way to make it sound like a chore…”

“We’re done with this conversation.”

“Ok! I’m sorry.” He pulled the stiff man in for a hug. “I’ll drop it.”

Cas’s exhaled in relief and all of the tension fled his body. “Thank you.”

“I just wanted to give you a little reward for saving my ass.”

“I didn’t save your ass.” He argued. “You were doing just fine.”

“No.” he insisted. “I didn’t start doing fine until after I drugged myself up with painkillers and decongestants, and then abandoned the girls to take a nap.”

Cas sighed. “I hate that you constantly underestimate yourself. Even sick, you would have been fine. You’re amazing with kids, don’t sell yourself short."

“God, Cas…” he mumbled into the man's neck. “I love you.”

Cas chuckled warmly, letting his fingers continue to ghost over Deans hips. “I love you too.”

“I want to kiss you so bad right now, but I’ll probably suffocate if I try.”

“And you don’t want to get me sick, right?”

Dean pecked Cas’s stubbled cheek. “I give you two days until you catch what I have. Theres no way you’ll be able to keep your hands off of me.”

Cas just rolled his eyes and pulled Dean into him. “You’re such a brat.”

Dean smiled and snuggled his face onto Cas’s shoulder. “I know.”

“You’re lucky I love you.”

“You’re the only one willing to put up with me. You’re stuck now.” He teased. God, Dean loved Cas. He was so good to him even though he was a little shit half the time. He literally couldn’t imagine his life without Cas in it. “We should get married…”

Cas froze, and then what he said finally caught up to him.

“What?”

Dean shifted back and avoided eye contact. “Nothing.”

“Did you just ask me to marry you?”

“No!” he yelled out, but soon he cleared his voice to continue. “No. That wasn’t me asking.”

“Oh.”

Dean cleared his throat, his heart hammering in his chest with excitement and fear. “Did you want it to be?”

“I don’t know.” Cas answered slowly, honestly clear in his voice.

His heart sunk. “Oh.”

Cas’s hands were on his face, forcing Dean to look at him. “Not because I don’t want to marry you, Dean. I promise you. I just always expected a bit more than _that._ ”

A smile was slowly creeping back onto Deans face. “You been thinking about me proposing?”

“Yes. I never thought I would want to remarry…until I met you. I’d be a fool not to.”

“I didn’t think you’d want me to ask you.”

Cas huffed. “Well, I didn’t think you’d want _me_ to ask _you._ ”

Dean’s smile was blinding. “Well, I’m totally going to ask you, then.”

Cas’s face turned tomato red. “Well, ok then.”

“Ok?” Dean repeated, wanting to be absolutely, 100% sure.

Cas nodded silently.

“Ok.” He repeated, and it took all of his willpower to turn away from Cas and press play on the tv. He could sense Cas staring at his profile, waiting for something- anything-, but Dean wasn’t going to budge. When he proposed, it would be a surprise. It wouldn’t be just then, right after they discussed it. Cas wouldn’t see it coming. Besides, he wouldn’t be the kind of guy who proposed without a ring. Cas deserved better.

Cas eventually went back to watching the tv, apparently deciding to drop it.

Dean ignored the show and started creating a checklist in his mind. He needed to get a ring, and he needed to plan something. Something private, but sentimental. He wanted the moment to be between them, not between them and a bunch of bystanders.

It seemed like no time had passed before Cas began yawning and they decided to hit the sack. With his mind a whirlwind of possibilities, it took Dean forever to fall asleep. He was just too nervous and excited. Excited because he knew Cas would say yes, but nervous that he would somehow fuck it all up. Cas deserved the best and Dean would do his best to give it to him. With a shake of his head, Dean put it out of his mind, content just to listen to Cas’s breathing as the man slept beside him.

It took him a few more minutes to fall asleep, but when he did, it was to the thought that he was already halfway to being engaged. He never would have guessed this was where his life was heading, but he was eager to see what unfolded for them.

**Author's Note:**

> Mary is going to flip her shit.


End file.
